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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26981440">Treading Water</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/raziraphale/pseuds/raziraphale'>raziraphale</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canonical Character Death, Crying, Declarations Of Love, First Kiss, Goodbyes, Hurt/Comfort, Ishimaru Kiyotaka Lives, Killing Game Rule Change, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 22:17:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,040</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26981440</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/raziraphale/pseuds/raziraphale</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i> When Junko Enoshima was first setting out the rules for her ultimate killing game, the part that caused her the most trouble was, surprisingly, figuring out how long it should take to execute her failed killers. <br/>Of course, her first instinct was to have them executed immediately. Would that not cause the most agonizing despair? Or, on the other hand, would that just be ripping off the band-aid? Would it not be better, then, to peel it off slowly, reveling in the pain of individual hairs being plucked from still-tender skin? It was a promising thought. </i>
</p>
<p>For better or for worse, Mondo Owada and Kiyotaka Ishimaru are given the time to say goodbye.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ishimaru Kiyotaka/Oowada Mondo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>147</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Treading Water</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>hello all ! I've been replaying the danganronpa games recently now that I have a PSVITA and I managed to catch some old feelings for these two! I've always been frustrated by the abrupt ends to some of the games' cases, so I decided to give myself the space to expand on some goodbyes I really wish had happened. </p>
<p>I was originally gonna re-write all the case endings in THH with this premise, but the 2nd trial was just such a clear emotional climax the pacing suffered. Maybe I'll revisit this as a series of one-shots from some of my other favourite trials. As it is, though, I hope you enjoy this expanded ending to Mondo's trial ^^</p>
<p>NOTE: I've only ever played the official english releases, so this is a First Names Zone. Apologies to any older fans and dedicated weebs, but I'm calling him Kiyotaka :P</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Junko Enoshima was first setting out the rules for her ultimate killing game, the part that caused her the most trouble was, surprisingly, figuring out how long it should take to execute her failed killers, so blackened by their deeds that they would be easily found out by their classmates.</p>
<p>Of course, her first instinct was to have them executed immediately. Would that not cause the most agonizing despair? The blackened, given no time to prepare themselves or even beg for absolution? Their surviving classmates, given no time to process, no time to mourn? Immediate execution would be the emotional equivalent of blunt force trauma, and it would undoubtedly be glorious.</p>
<p>But, on the other hand, Junko would find herself thinking, mentally chewing on the end of her non-existent pencil, could it not also be the equivalent of ripping of a band-aid? Would it not be better, then, to peel it off slowly, reveling in the pain of individual hairs being plucked from still-tender skin? It was a promising thought.</p>
<p>What would her classmates do, if granted the time to linger on death row? Junko weighed the options. As she saw it, there could be two possible outcomes from giving everyone the time to wallow: either the blackened would have the time to come to terms with their fate and achieve closure (barf), or they would use that time to desperately carry their deepest wishes, the kind of wishes that can only truly bubble to the surface of one’s consciousness when they are certain they are about to die. Junko could picture it already – hopeless expressions of regret, the realization of friendships that would never be given the opportunity to grow, late-minute declarations of love that would only serve to make separation all the more excruciating – and her grin spread from ear to ear at the potential despair that awaited her.</p>
<p>So, which to choose? She couldn’t go wrong with her original plan, but the sheer <em>potential</em> of the second one caused her skin to tingle and spark like too-cold water on sensitive teeth. Giving the blackened time was riskier, but the greater potential for reward was tantalizing. Junko was nothing if not a betting woman.</p>
<p>And so, the final version of her killing game rules read:</p>
<ul>
<li>Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes “blackened” will graduate, unless they are discovered.</li>
<li>Once a murder takes place, a class trial will begin shortly thereafter. Participation is mandatory for all surviving students.</li>
<li>If the guilty party is exposed during the class trial, they alone will be executed.</li>
<li>If the guilty party is not exposed, they alone will graduate, and all remaining students will be executed.</li>
<li>Students slated for execution will be given thirty minutes in detention, which they will be allowed to spend with any student(s) of their choosing before their execution.</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p>~*~</p>
<p>“Dun-dun da!” exclaimed Monokuma with fanfare, talking over Leon’s increasingly desperate excuses and pleas for forgiveness. Monokuma yanked on a previously unseen rope hanging from the ceiling of the courtroom, which caused the entire room to shake. One of the wall panels began to slide slowly upwards like a garage door, revealing a hidden classroom.</p>
<p>The classroom was somehow the most depressing of all the ones they had seen at Hope’s Peak so far. All of the students turned to look at the blackboard at the front of the room. Written boldly and underlined in white chalk at the top of the board was the word DETENTION. Below it, someone had scrawled the sentence, I MUST NOT KILL MY FRIENDS, over and over as if carrying out some punishment, the handwriting growing more and more cramped and illegible. There were no windows, not even the boarded-up kind they had all become used to, and all the desks in the room were rough, the wood exposed and splintering from layers of angry, desperate scratches.</p>
<p>“Allllll right, Leon Kuwata,” Monokuma cheered, obviously excited to see what would happen. “It’s time for your detention. Anyone you want to name as your temporary partner in crime?”</p>
<p>“It was self-defence, man,” Leon continued, talking more to himself now than trying to convince anyone else “You gotta believe me.”</p>
<p>As Leon continued, his fellow classmates exchanged nervous glances. Not yet used to the horror of the killing game, not yet trusting of the strangers around them… no one seemed able to act, not even to stall the fate of their classmate.</p>
<p>“Have it your way, I guess,” Monokuma replied with audible disappointment. “No skin off my adorable bear nose.” He tugged again at the rope and the wall panel slammed shut at a speed that would’ve been comical in any other context. Instead, the bear reached behind himself and pulled out a large mallet, bringing it down on the red button that had appeared in front of his throne.</p>
<p>A hallway appeared on the other side of the room, and almost immediately a metal collar at the end of a long chain snaked from the darkness and clamped itself around Leon’s neck like the strike of a cobra. Before the baseball player could even react, he was jerked back towards his fate, disappearing from view.</p>
<p>“Better luck next time,” Monokuma said, as the spotlights clicked on and the game began.</p>
<p>~*~</p>
<p>The second class trial seemed to have Monokuma in a much better mood. As Kiyotaka continued his shouting match with Makoto, Mondo watched as that stupid bear covered that unchanging grin with his paws as if trying to hide his enjoyment. Mondo looked back down at his shoes, his fists clenching involuntarily at his sides as his friend’s voice began to falter, his shouts more strained. He didn’t want to watch this. He couldn’t.</p>
<p>When it was all over, the only sound left in the courtroom was Kiyotaka’s sobs. He was crouched over his podium, uncharacteristically thoughtless of his posture and gripping the wood with bone-white hands. His uniform was dishevelled, as if he’d been in a physical fight. It made Mondo’s heart hurt at the wrongness of it.</p>
<p>“So,” Monokuma started conversationally, ignoring the noise as he tugged on the rope “I’m sure you’re no stranger to the concept of detention. Anyone in mind for your final stint?” As the courtroom shuddered with the slow reveal of the hidden classroom, Mondo tried to make eye contact with Kiyotaka, but the hall monitor’s face was scrunched up in agony, the reds of his eyes hidden.</p>
<p>“Bro?” Mondo tried, but his voice was raw. He swallowed hard, gathering himself. He wouldn’t cry over what he’d done. He didn’t deserve to. “Kiyotaka?”</p>
<p>The sound of his actual name caused him to freeze, Kiyotaka’s cries cutting off with a sudden hiccough. He looked up at Mondo, and the two of them stared silently at one another. Everyone in the courtroom seemed to be holding their breath.</p>
<p>“Oh, please,” Monokuma huffed, unable to read the room. He stood up on his throne, jumping up and down like a child having a tantrum. “Hop to it! I’m not getting any younger over here!”</p>
<p>Kiyotaka broke eye contact first, his entire body snapping to attention. He bowed mechanically in apology and marched towards detention with glassy eyes, like a toy soldier that had finally been wound up and let go. Mondo followed behind him, keeping his eyes resolutely on Kiyotaka's back. The hall monitor’s muscles were just a little <em>too </em>tense, his movements just a little <em>too</em> stiff, and Mondo clenched his fists again, burying them in his jacket pockets.</p>
<p>As soon as they had both crossed the threshold of the classroom, the panel of the wall snapped shut behind them immediately like a sprung trap. They were alone.</p>
<p>The tension of being on trial for his life had been the only thing keeping Mondo upright, and as soon as the courtroom was out of view he deflated onto a nearby desk, one of his long legs propped up on a nearby chair. Kiyotaka hadn’t yet moved, and he didn’t even bother to flinch at Mondo’s improper pose. He just stood there, his back straight and his eyes unfocused. Before Mondo could think of something – anything – to say, Kiyotaka spoke.</p>
<p>“I’ve never been in detention before.” He said simply. His voice sounded so small, so flat, so <em>unlike</em> himself, that whatever remained of Mondo’s heart broke in an instant.</p>
<p>“I’m… so sorry.” Mondo’s shoulders, already slumped with exhaustion, began to tremble and shake. “I fucked it all up. You don’t deserve a brother like me.” Mondo couldn’t help but wince at how familiar the words were. No matter what he did, he always ended up disappointing the people he cared about most. He always ended up here.</p>
<p>“No!” Kiyotaka’s voice boomed through the classroom, causing Mondo to sit upright. The hall monitor was suddenly a foot from his face. Kiyotaka’s face was blotchy from crying and his eyes shone with the promise of more tears, but his usual intensity had returned twofold. “You didn’t – you couldn’t –” Kiyotaka let out a frustrated noise and bit down hard on his own lip, clearly angry at his inability to articulate himself.</p>
<p>“It’s okay,” Mondo said, raising his hands to rest them carefully on Kiyotaka’s forearms, grasping at the sleeves of his uniform. “I’ve made my peace with it. I wasn’t even gonna try to hide what I did but, well, I kind of froze.” He laughed, but it was flat and humourless. “Byakuya had us all fucked up.”</p>
<p>Kiyotaka was unexpectedly quiet, eyes darting across Mondo’s face as if searching for something. Mondo wondered what he was looking for.</p>
<p>“I’m just…” Mondo sighed, wrinkling Kiyotaka’s uniform sleeves even more under his fingers “I’m sorry. This isn’t fair to you. It wasn’t fair to Chihiro. It wasn’t fair to any of you. I wish –” Mondo squeezed his eyes shut. “I wish I was better. I wish things... could’ve been different.”</p>
<p>The moment was suddenly broken by Mondo’s undignified yelp as Kiyotaka surged forwards, mouth colliding with Mondo’s. It wasn’t pleasant. Their noses knocked together, teeth scraped and pinched at skin. Kiyotaka’s face was sticky with snot and tears, and Mondo could feel his own hair beginning to fall from his pompadour and cling to the other’s face. Still, after about a moment’s shock, Mondo found himself returning Kiyotaka’s desperate, clumsy enthusiasm.</p>
<p>Kiyotaka stood in between Mondo’s legs, as close as he could get without climbing on top of him. He had shaken off Mondo’s grip on his arms and was now clinging to the collar of Mondo’s coat. For once, Kiyotaka was able to loom over Mondo, still sitting on the desk, pulling him upwards as if trying to lift Mondo’s head above water.  Mondo snaked his arms around Kiyotaka’s middle, his uniform twisted in his fists. Mondo couldn’t help but think they were safe as long as they remained like this, floating together above the water, Monokuma unable to split them into two separate people again.</p>
<p>But, of course, it couldn’t last. Mondo could feel the wetness on his cheeks as Kiyotaka began to cry again (or was it him, finally letting go?), and soon enough their kisses were punctuated with hiccoughs and sobs as they fell apart once again. Mondo ended up with Kiyotaka’s face buried in his shoulder, his own hands smoothing out Kiyotaka’s uniform as he rubbed at his back. Kiyotaka quieted down again, his breath evening out against Mondo’s neck.</p>
<p>Before Mondo could wonder if Kiyotaka had fallen asleep from sheer exhaustion, he felt lips brushing against his neck. “Do you think,” Kiyotaka started softly, voice tired. He swallowed, beginning again. “Do you think, if things had been different, we still would’ve ended up like this?”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Mondo said, still rubbing absently at Kiyotaka’s back. “I think so. Maybe not this fast, but eventually.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, I think so, too.” Kiyotaka huffed against his exposed skin. “No respect for appropriate school conduct. You’re hard-headed like that.”</p>
<p>“Am not.” Mondo said reflexively, always ready to disagree on principle. He pushed Kiyotaka away from him, just enough to check on his undoubtedly smug expression. Instead, Kiyotaka’s expression was probably the softest he’d even seen it. Everything he’d been through had seemed to rub away, just a bit, at Kiyotaka’s hard edges. The process had been rough, sandpaper against skin, but the result was still… soft. Mondo thought about Kiyotaka’s comment for a second more before sighing in defeat, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. “Yeah, I guess I’m stubborn. But you kissed me first.”</p>
<p>Kiyotaka blushed, barely visible on his face, still raw from crying, but it was there. “Extenuating circumstances,” he said as primly as he could manage, voice echoing just a little too loudly. “I’m already in detention, anyway.”</p>
<p>Mondo gave a small smile. “Yeah, sorry about that.” His voice was heavy with the weight of all that he had to be sorry for.</p>
<p>Before Kiyotaka could say anything in response, Mondo leaned up from his seat on the desk to place a careful kiss on Kiyotaka’s mouth. It was gentle, and everything he thought their first kiss should’ve been. It wasn’t hard to imagine a different path to this same moment – two classmates, having overcome their initial differences and built up a mutual respect over their years at school, tentatively taking a step towards something else. If Mondo closed his eyes, focusing on each tender press of his lips against Kiyotaka’s, he could picture the two of them, studying in an empty Hope’s Peak classroom on a bright weekend afternoon, sun actually streaming through the un-boarded windows and highlighting the browns in Kiyotaka’s hair. Of course, Mondo would not be studying, his eyes would wander to his friend, debating the consequences of leaning forward and taking his chance. He wonders if he would’ve done it, then, without a countdown looming over them both.</p>
<p>Mondo puled back and the vision disappeared into muted reds and browns, all reflected in Kiyotaka’s sad eyes.</p>
<p>“Here,” Mondo said, shrugging off his jacket before he could wallow too long. He held the jacket out to Kiyotaka, gripping it at the collar with one hand. “You should take this.”</p>
<p>Kiyotaka shook his head, waving his hands in protest. “I could not possible take –”</p>
<p>Mondo huffed, equal parts frustration and fondness. “I know it’s not part of the uniform but –”</p>
<p>Kiyotaka cut him off. “But it’s yours, bro.”</p>
<p>Mondo flicked Kiyotaka in the forehead with his free hand, and almost laughed out loud at Kiyotaka's expression of bewildered offence. “You can knock that shit off, now. Brothers don’t mack on each other.”</p>
<p>An exasperated sigh, then, “Mondo, I can’t take this.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, you can,” Mondo assured him, placing his jacket around the other’s shoulders. “The gang’s my family, and you’re the only family I’ve got left. It’s yours.”</p>
<p>Kiyotaka didn’t put his arms through the sleeves, instead gripping at the collar with his fingers like a child making a cape out of a blanket. “Thank you.”</p>
<p>Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to tremble, and the two boys looked over to see the false wall begin to rise once again. Mondo ignored his own surprise at the sight of their classmates, still standing just as they’d left them, instead turning to Kiyotaka. He stood up and gripped Kiyotaka by the shoulders, his hands fisted in the fabric of his own coat. Kiyotaka was still looking in rising horror at the reappearing courtroom. Mondo shook him slightly, forcing him to meet his gaze.</p>
<p>“Hey, listen to me,” he demanded, voice growing rougher as the wall rose higher, a guillotine ready to drop “You gotta survive for me, alright? I did some stupid shit, but you’re smart, Taka, so <em>so</em> smart. You can get out of here. Get out of here with everyone else. Promise me?”</p>
<p>“I promise,” Kiyotaka forced out, just as the metal collar snapped closed around Mondo’s neck. All Kiyotaka could do was shout as Mondo was ripped away from him, a long chain dragging him down into the deep.</p>
<p>Despite the time to prepare himself, to say goodbye, Kiyotaka still screamed and cried himself hoarse as the execution was carried out, the chain link fence surrounding the punishment area cutting into his hands as he clung to it for dear life. All that he felt was too much for his body, and it escaped in any way it could. Even with all that, he could still hear Monokuma, laughing at them both.</p>
<p>By the time it was over, Kiyotaka couldn’t speak, couldn’t move. Still, with the help of his classmates, he kept his promise, and dragged himself out of there, Monokuma’s laughs still echoing throughout the courtroom behind him.</p>
<p>~*~</p>
<p>In the end, Junko was right about maximizing her classmates’ despair, because Kiyotaka carried on, and so he carried that despair with him, always. A net gain to the world’s despair, if you looked at it in such simple terms.</p>
<p>As the vault door of Hope’s Peak opened, the dry, scorched wind of the world outside caught Kiyotaka’s coat, causing it to billow out behind him. He heard his fellow survivors gasp at the sight, despite knowing what was waiting for them, and admitted to himself that Junko had won, in a sense. They were not the same people they had been before, the same teenagers with hopes of bright futures, bright futures all but guaranteed the moment they had stepped foot in Hope’s Peek Academy. Kiyotaka wasn’t the same person who could fall back on <em>rules</em> and <em>regulations</em> to keep him moving forward. The rules of the killing game had taken everything from him, and there were no comforting blacks and whites left in a world reduced to swirling red dust. The wind sent the dust stinging against his face, scraping off sharp edges and tender skin alike, leaving only himself.</p>
<p>But, now he had a promise to fall back on. Not the same kind of promise, like the duty he had felt to his family, but a mutual promise between men. A promise to a friend.</p>
<p>It was a kind of hope, Kiyotaka supposed, if it kept him putting one foot in front of the other, out into a world he hoped, one day, to make just a bit better.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thank you so much for reading !! I'm very much late to the danganronpa party, but feel free to come chat over on my <a href="http://raziraphale.tumblr.com">tumblr</a>.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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